PUBLISHED ONJune 16, 2023 10:11 AMByDrima ChakrabortyWe often hear actors joining famous franchises say that they're huge fans, but how much of that is really true?
During a June 13 press conference for Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen said that though he has acted in several franchises, Indiana Jones was the only one he "grew up with".
"I've been lying in all the other interviews when I did [James] Bond and Star Wars," the 57-year-old continued. "I always said I saw them, but I didn't."
When he was a youngster, Mads recalled watching most movies for free in the cinema with his older brother, fellow actor Lars Mikkelsen.
"Normally, my brother always had a girlfriend who worked in a cinema somewhere, but he didn't in this period, so we rented the film," he explained.
"We ended up renting it together with five other films, and we ended up watching Indiana Jones five times and not the other ones."
He continued: "It is true to say that [Indiana Jones] shaped our generation. I have plenty of friends who are specifically film directors who started out because of that one film."
Mads also found it to be an "enormous honour" to go from a kid watching the original Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981 to being "part of this world" 42 years later.
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny presents Mads as Nazi scientist Dr Jürgen Voller, whom Indiana (Harrison Ford) and Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) run into in 1944. Indy steals a mysterious dial known as the Antikythera, and in the present day (1969), runs into Voller again — this time, as an Alabama researcher working for Nasa going by the name Schmidt.
Basil's daughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who is also Indy's goddaughter, is after the Antikythera as well.
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The movie adds to a long list of villainous roles played by Mads, from Le Chiffre in the James Bond movie Casino Royale (2006) to the titular Hannibal Lecter in NBC's Hannibal (2013-2015).
"I try to find what's humanising them to a degree," he explained about his approach to playing villains. "If I cannot relate to what they dream about, I'll replace that with something else that I can dream about, because this character has passion.
"And if I don't understand that, I'll just have to replace that passion with something else."
Mads has also played Galen Erso in the Star Wars film Rogue One and Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny will be the last film in the franchise.
When asked at the press conference about saying farewell to Indy compared to his other famous roles — Han Solo (Star Wars) and Rick Deckard (Blade Runner) — Harrison said: "I mean, this is a singular experience. It has been a singular experience that, somehow, I don't put it in the same category as other films."
When prompted if it felt any different, the 80-year-old nevertheless said that it didn't, though he added that it felt good "because of the shape of this goodbye".
"It feels good to me because I feel that we've made a really satisfying film for the audience," he continued. "We've taken our concern, our interest in the character, and tried to shape a story that would bring this character back into their lives with an interesting story.
"And I think given the people that we've involved and the character and nature of the story that [director James Mangold] has created for us, it's a splendid goodbye."
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny releases in Singapore cinemas on June 30.
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drimac@asiaone.com
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